David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is not a coarse measure; it is the wrong measure. It simply is wrong and I think Deputy Donnelly knows that as Minister for Health. We cannot seek to improve services in the healthcare system if a recruitment embargo is in place. The Minister cited the exemptions, which I accept are in place for final-year graduate nurses and hospital consultants, but all the other posts are not exempt. The HSE sought €20 million for the national cancer strategy for 2024; it got zero. There are a range of posts that need to be filled in that area, such as radiologist and radiation therapy posts, none of which can be filled. There are also many vacancies in mental health care and we have heard from advocate groups in that area, but again the embargo is presenting a challenge there. Approximately 100,000 children are in need of dental screening and, again, they cannot get their appointments because of a lack of staff. The Minister will have seen the letter I received from the HSE, which clearly states the recruitment embargo means it cannot hire the dentists it needs. There are pressures throughout the healthcare service, therefore, but there is now an embargo, wrongly imposed by the Government, that needs to be lifted, and I am asking the Minister to lift it.

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